Bamboo Forest

Naruto leisurely strolled through the forest, humming a nursery rhyme, his eyes scanning around for the missing cat.

A cat had run away from Mrs. Yamanaka's flower shop, so the task was registered at the Hokage building and a 5000-ryo D-rank mission fee was paid.

Since other teams were out on missions with their respective jonin leaders, only Team 7 was available, so naturally, this task fell to Naruto, the unlucky one.

After all, he had acted on his own and led Team 7 to chase after Zabuza and Haku. Although they succeeded, it also made Kakashi furious.

As punishment, Naruto had to complete twenty D-rank missions by himself.

"Ino? Mrs. Yamanaka?"

After calling out a string of phrases that might attract the little cat's attention, Naruto still didn't hear any sound, so he could only lay down exhausted on the bench beside the road.

"Naruto? What are you doing sleeping here?"

A familiar voice came, and Naruto looked up to see a head full of golden hair. Ino had her hands on her hips, leaning forward, looking down at Naruto.

"Ino?" Naruto didn't seem inclined to get up; it was already late. "When did you come back to the village?"

"This afternoon, I guess. After the mission, Asuma-sensei gave us two days off." Ino sat down next to Naruto.

"My mother's cat is missing."

"Oh, I know about that. The genin who accepted the mission was me." Naruto leaned back in the chair, pointing at himself.

Under the streetlight, the two were not far apart, casually sizing each other up.

Naruto wore a black t-shirt, loose brown shorts, and had a completely indifferent look on his face.

"I'm telling you!" Ino grabbed Naruto's shirt, a little angry, "You accepted someone else's mission, so at least show some enthusiasm!"

"Damn!"

Ino then forcefully shoved Naruto toward the other side of the bench. But Naruto, completely indifferent, just lay back down and nonchalantly said, "Yes, yes, Lady Ino, you're the best. So, find the cat, and I'll treat you to barbecue."

"That's your task! What are you doing lying around like this?" Ino was starting to lose her patience.

"It is my task, but I could hire you, you know?" Naruto said nonchalantly. "The village didn't say ninjas can't hire ninjas to do tasks, right?"

"True, but I'm not obligated to help you find the cat!" Ino shot Naruto a glance.

"Ino, you don't want Mrs. Yamanaka to be sad, do you?"

"You!"

"Stop saying useless things, Ino. If you find it, I'll treat you to barbecue. Besides, you're out this late just to look for a cat, right?"

Reluctantly, Ino had to compromise.

Suppressing her anger, she stood up and walked in front of Naruto, leaning over and glaring at his face, "Get up and help me look! Quickly!"

"Yes, yes," Naruto yawned and was dragged up by Ino, who pulled him forward.

"Honestly! What's wrong with you?" Ino kept pulling Naruto forward, complaining incessantly.

"Damn! If you accept a task, do it properly! Who are you showing this lazy attitude to? If this keeps up, don't you want to go back...."

"I don't care if I go home or not," Naruto suddenly said. "I was actually planning to sleep here on the bench."

"Don't say that, hurry up and help me search!" Ino paused for a moment before dragging Naruto forward again.

...

"Ino, I think I hear something over there," Naruto said after listening carefully in the forest, pointing to a direction.

"Got it, got it!" Ino said impatiently.

Taking advantage of the moonlight, Ino pushed forward, but was suddenly tripped and almost fell forward. Just as she was about to adjust her balance, Naruto grabbed her.

"What are you doing?" Naruto tilted his head, confused, looking at her.

"Me? Didn't you see I tripped?" Ino said irritably.

"Oh, then I'll let go," Naruto pretended to let go, but Ino's pupils shrank in fear.

"Naruto!!"

After a sharp scream, Ino grabbed whatever she could hold onto. Naruto had initially planned to let go but was pulled by Ino, who had grabbed his shirt.

"Damn it," Naruto swore instinctively.

But it was too late, as Naruto fell in the direction Ino was falling, and with a rip, his shirt was torn.

"Ugh!" Ino opened her eyes to find Naruto lying on top of her.

Their lips didn't quite meet, but Naruto's clothes had been torn, and his head was resting on her neck.

"That spot! Something's going to happen!" Ino felt the warmth at her neck and her face instantly turned bright red.

"Naruto! Get up!" Ino shouted, blushing.

"Don't pull my shirt!" Naruto shouted, then cried out in pain, "Don't pull like that! Your hand!"

After a brief chaotic moment, Ino got up from the ground, wiped the moisture from her lips, and said, "What did you do?!"

"I didn't do anything, stop making things up, Ino!" Naruto jumped up, covering his torn clothes.

"How am I supposed to go home like this?"

The anger above Ino's head was almost visible, her fists tightly clenched. Just as she was about to scold Naruto, a meow sounded.

In the bamboo forest, a pure white cat walked by with elegant steps, glancing at the two who were still arguing.

...

Outside Mrs. Yamanaka's flower shop, under a big green tree, Ino reluctantly pulled out a white shirt from behind and handed it to Naruto, saying, "Here, you're not allowed to do anything weird with my clothes!"

"Ha?" Naruto frowned, "How could I do that? And besides, you're the one who tore my shirt, so you owe me an apology, you brat!"

"How was I supposed to know you'd do that?!" Ino defended herself, her voice suddenly softening as the night grew late. "Anyway... sorry."

Hearing the usually assertive Ino apologize, Naruto was taken aback, unsure of what to do.

"Well, since you apologized, I'll forgive you," Naruto scratched his head. "I was wrong too... Hmm, how about I treat you to barbecue?"

Ino looked at Naruto with a complex expression for a long time before asking, "Do you really want to treat me to a barbecue?"

"Mm." Naruto nodded.

"Barbecue is expensive."

"I've earned quite a bit from missions recently, so don't worry about it," Naruto said. "This is on me."

"Well, fine," Ino nodded. "Since you invited me sincerely, I'll graciously accept."

"But I'm still very rich, so I'll treat you, dummy."

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